Page 91 of Outside Looking In

“Evening, sir.” A member of guest services handed him a bag of his laundry. He had bought a new outfit in the hotel shop and sent for his old outfit to be washed thoroughly.

“We washed it twice,” the employee said. “The clothes had a very strong smell on them.”

“It’s sheep manure,” Nathan said wistfully.

He opened the bag and inhaled the fresh scent. He missed the old smell. He had gotten used to it, and it had become a part of him. If he ever came across another sheep, he would think of the farm and Liam when he smelled it.

Nathan threw the clothes into his suitcase, also purchased at the hotel shop.

“Are you ready to go?” his father asked. He crammed his bulging toiletry bag into his suitcase.

“Ready.” He thought about calling Liam, but he didn’t know what to say. He knew how Liam felt, and that was enough for him.

“The cab will be here in two minutes.”

Nathan sat on his bed and closed his eyes. He pictured all the memories he made over these past two months. He thought about Franny and him going dress shopping, laughing over family dinners, the way Liam pulled him close when they spooned. And of course, he thought of the sheep meandering around the farm, living their best lives. He could hear them now, baaa’ing in the background. It was almost peaceful, a sound he got used to as he drifted off to sleep.

“Do you hear that?” his dad asked.

Baaaa.

Was Nathan still daydreaming? His dad charged to the window.

Baaaa.

“Do they let sheep run wild in the streets here?” his dad asked.

The baaaa’ing got louder. It filled up the empty space of the room. It was accompanied by the honking of horns.

More horns and more bleating. They wafted through the hotel window. It was madness outside. And a suspicious, hopeful feeling tingled up Nathan’s spine.

He ran to the window and pulled back the curtains.

Sheep. Everywhere.

They filled the circular driveway entrance to the hotel. They meandered onto the carefully landscaped lawn. Tilly and her lambs chewed on the grass. Cabs and valet drivers trying to drop off visitors honked at the stampede of livestock. He couldn’t see asphalt. Just wool. A sea of wool.

With one Liam sticking up in the center of the madness. As soon as Liam found Nathan’s window, a huge smile creased his bearded face.

“Nathan!”

“Liam? What the hell are you doing?”

“They wanted to do some shopping in the city.” Liam wore the blazer from their date with a rumpled flannel shirt underneath. “And they wanted to tell you not to go, that you were the best thing that’s ever happened to them.”

“Theywanted to tell me that?”

“And me. Me, especially.”

Even though three stories and a flock of sheep separated him and Liam, Nathan felt like there was nothing in this world right now except for them.

“But I lied to you,” Nathan said. “Repeatedly.”

“You told me some untrue things about yourself, but was everything you felt also untrue?”

Nathan shook his head no.

“That’s what I thought.” The sheep bleated around him. “Pipe down. I was getting to that part.” He turned back to Nathan. “Can you take a flight tomorrow? I was hoping we could talk.”